Portland Timbers mount final home stand as FC Dallas seek away goals

The MLS Western Conference Championship between FC Dallas and the Portland Timbers will kick off on Sunday at Providence Park, the first leg in a home-away series that will see these two teams fight for a spot in the MLS Cup final.

Dallas midfielder Victor Ulloa knows full well how important it is for his side to pick up a win away from home, and how difficult it could be to do so. Winning on the road was a feat that Dallas only achieved five times this year; they were nearly unstoppable at home, however, taking 13 of its 18 overall league matches at home in Toyota Stadium.

As such, this first-leg encounter on enemy territory isn't just a chance for Ulloa's side to start the series defying expectations: It also provides them with a chance to snatch a crucial away goal, and an advantage for the second leg in Texas.

"We know it’s important if we can score an away goal like we did in the last series against Seattle," Ulloa told reporters. "But we’re also conscious of the fact that they play well at home and we’ll be ready and concentrated on the little details so that we’re able to get a result."

Beating Portland isn't an impossible task, but it's one that the Hoops couldn't pull off in the regular season, losing 3-1 on April 4 when these two teams met at Providence Park. Back then, the back-end effort of Portland's central defensive pairing of Nat Borchers and Liam Ridgewell kept Dallas at bay, with Borchers scoring the first goal of the game, too.

But Dallas is a much-improved team since last April, and steamrolled Portland 4-1 at home four months later, leaving Portland wary of their opposition.

"I’m not sure if you can really contain them," Borchers told reporters. "I think that they’re going to have their chances, we’re just going to have to limit the amount of space they have. (It’s) really just about getting guys to help defensively, getting guys behind the ball when the ball does turn over because those guys are obviously very fast and can score very good goals.”

Preventing the concession of an away goal will be key, a mission that Portland head coach Caleb Porter hopes his defensive pairing is capable of accomplishing, especially on this, the final game at Providence Park for 2015.

"That was part of the reason we brought in Ridgewell last year in the summer transfer (window)," Porter explained. "We felt we needed a top-level central defender that had experience playing against top level attackers.

"While Ridgewell has experience playing at the top level in the Premier League for many years, we thought it was important to have someone next to him that has experience in MLS that has been in the trenches, who knows the attacking players in the league inside and out."

Portland will be helped with the sudden emergence of Darlington Nagbe, a two-way midfielder who earned a call-up to the U.S. national team due to his blistering form. Dallas defender Walker Zimmerman will be keeping an eye on Nagbe throughout the match.

"He’s a special talent, a guy who’s soaring with confidence right now," Zimmerman said. "We just have to have faith in what we do as a backline as back six with our defensive mids - just kind of keeping him in check and always being in tune with where he is, and I think we can do a good job of that."

So, how will Dallas approach this away game? Zimmerman says the secret is making sure his team doesn't charge at Portland right away.

"I think it’s having some composure in the early part of the game and just kind of waiting, feeling the game out, not being too hectic early on and trying to score too badly," Zimmerman explained. "And then I think second half you’ll see us kind of having found the rhythm of the game and look to take our chances a little bit more."